Bluffton Middle School gets clean sweep

No illegal contraband was found at the Bluffton Middle School during a surprise search conducted Tuesday.

The search of the new school on New Mustang Lane began at about 8:30 a.m. and lasted an hour. It was performed by Bluffton Police Department officers, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office K-9 units and school officials.

"The Bluffton Middle School welcomed the search. School officials encourage and support the proactive involvement of the Bluffton Police Department in the school to ensure a safe learning environment," Bluffton Police Capt. Bryan Norberg said.

It was the first search of the middle school since it opened for its first school year.

Police try to search Bluffton High School and the middle schools two or three times a year.

"We do a full search of the school. Every room in the school was checked with canines," Norberg said.

"It was fairly quick and efficient and didn't interrupt the school process much," he said, figuring it took about 5 minutes per classroom.

School administrators give police a calendar listing of available dates that would not interrupt special testing days. Police pick search dates, and "we give them about 10 minutes notice to put the school on lockdown," Norberg said.

"We were very pleased we found nothing. It tells us something about the type of students we have and the type of community."

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